Lomita’s annual fireworks show has fizzled this year because city officials say they can’t afford the roughly $20,000 needed to put it on.

Citing a lack of money stemming from the battered economy, the City Council on Monday voted to scuttle the 20-minute-long show held every summer.

Mayor Don Suminaga and Tim King had hoped to retain the show, but found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-2 vote.

It was the second time in a month the panel had voted down the show because of financial constraints; King had asked the council to reconsider its initial decision.

“The people in Lomita are going to be very upset,” King said. “There’s a projected overage of between $200,000 and $600,000 in our budget. So to say we cannot afford the $20,000 firework display, which has already been budgeted – and again the money is there – I find very difficult to support.”

Thousands of people watch the fireworks show at Lomita Park that is part of the annual Founder’s Day celebration held on the last Saturday in June.

Last year the council scaled back what is usually a daylong festival of food, music and activities because of a $1.4 million budget deficit.

But an evening music show and the fireworks remained.

One company quoted a price of about $18,000 for this year’s show, said City Manager Dawn Tomita.

Lomita has put on a fireworks show annually since 1984, with the exception of 2003, when financial worries then also killed the event, city officials said.

Councilman Ken Blackwood disagreed with King’s conclusion the city has money to spare for the event this year.

He noted that last year the city used about $750,000 in cash reserves to help balance its budget.

But this year the city found unexpected savings – combining its city manager and city clerk positions, for instance. That saved about $200,000, Blackwood said.

All told, this year the city will be able to return about $400,000 in unspent money to its rainy day fund.

“I don’t see where we have the $400,000 overage,” Blackwood said. “I see us paying back some of the money we borrowed from the reserve. And we need a reserve in case things get worse.”

Veteran journalist Nick Green is the beat reporter for the cities of Torrance, Carson and Lomita and also covers the South Bay's rapidly growing craft beer industry for the Daily Breeze. He has worked for newspapers on the West Coast since graduating in 1987 from the University of Washington and lives in Old Torrance with his wife and two cats. Follow him on Twitter @NickGreen007 and @BeerGogglesLA.